UK committee condemns loot boxes (‘surprise mechanics’) as gambling

The UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee today released their conclusions from their investigation into addictive game mechanics. While the report is a long one not solely focused on games or loot ...

The Uncertain Future Of Loot Boxes With the recent news that the major console manufacturers will be requiring game developers to disclose the probability of obtaining “randomized virtual items” from loot boxes, as well as Rocket Leagu...08:42, 08/10/2019

Rocket League Is Ditching Loot Boxes Psyonix announced in a blog today that its car soccer game Rocket League will be leaving loot boxes behind in a move aimed at “creating the best possible experience for our players all over the world....23:14, 08/06/2019

EA tells UK Parliament loot boxes are 'quite ethical' With loot boxes receiving heavy scrutiny lately, EA has come up with a novel explanation for what the controversial game mechanic should be considered perfectly legal. Appearing before the UK Parliame...19:28, 06/20/2019

Both Democrats And Republicans Agree: Loot Boxes Bad Earlier this week, Republican senator Josh Hawley announced a bill that would regulate the use of loot boxes and microtransactions in “games played by minors.” But aren’t Republicans typically against...00:42, 05/10/2019

No season passes or loot boxes in Gears 5 As we count down the days until Gears 5's September release date, The Coalition has announced some more details around how players will be able to earn new content and items as they play. In...16:14, 06/23/2019

Gears Pop is Clash Royale with cover mechanics Gears Pop is a lot like Clash Royale, but it has a cover system, naturally. It's also totally fine, and the goal is to take out your opponents two defensive towers and then their home base.Read More...20:14, 08/23/2019

The best tool boxes you can buy A good tool box is the foundation of any home maintenance, ensuring that your tools and equipment are protected, organized, and accessible.
A great tool box does all the above, as well as striking th...21:56, 09/13/2019

Bitcoin is an insult to gambling Dear John: Like you, I believe bitcoin is a total fraud with nothing backing it. And it should be regulated by gambling commissions — not federal securities regulators....06:14, 06/16/2019

Illegal Gambling Investigation In Madison Co. MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18)– Kentucky State Police executed search warrants on three Madison County businesses that they say were operating as fronts for illegal gambling.
The initial investiga...20:28, 06/11/2019

Nasdaq Makes Bet on Sports Gambling Nasdaq is lending its technology and brand to a U.K. soccer-betting platform that lets users wager on players by buying and selling stakes tied to their on-field performance....13:42, 07/23/2019

Somehow, I Can’t Get Hooked On Anime Gambling Games You know gacha games, right? Those free-to-play anime games with built-in slot machines you can play to collect new characters? They’re everywhere. Smartphone app stores are absolutely lousy with them...21:14, 05/14/2019

The Week In Games: Loot And Shoot With Your Friends After a long wait, the new Borderlands is finally coming out this week. Borderlands 3 is releasing for PS4, Xbox One, and PC and bringing with it some ridiculous number of guns. Maybe too much loot, r...05:28, 09/09/2019

Why That Anti-Loot Box Bill Is Actually Kinda Shitty A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday aims to ban pay-to-win microtransactions and loot boxes in video games that are “minor-oriented.” The bill, however, essentially applies to a...01:28, 05/24/2019

Look At These Star Wars Game Boxes Limited Run Games, a company that reprints classic/cult games in new boxes so collectors can enjoy them, is bringing out two old Star Wars games this week, and their packaging is pretty much perfect....04:56, 06/25/2019

This Robot Is Really Angry And Done Lifting Boxes Hello! Today we get banned for buying too many games, watch a robot get angry, learn when the Sonic movie is actually coming out and talk about fake meat at McDonald’s. It’s Morning Checkpoint!...21:00, 05/25/2019

Scholes fined $10,000 for breaching gambling rules LONDON (AP) — Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has been fined 8,000 pounds ($10,000) for breaching gambling rules by betting on games.
Scholes was charged by the English Football Assoc...13:28, 06/19/2019

MLB’s approach to gambling enters the Twilight Zone As Rod Serling said, “Submitted for your approval”: It has become science fiction, the “Twilight Zone” episode in which William Shatner sees that hideous hobgoblin on the wing trying to burn the airpl...03:00, 06/23/2019

| Nearly 400 detained in record Vietnam gambling bust More than 380 Chinese nationals were detained during a raid on a gambling ring in Vietnam, state media reported Sunday, in what police claim is the biggest-ever betting operation run by foreigners....21:42, 07/28/2019

NBA 2K League bans player for gambling violation The NBA 2K League announced on Thursday that Heat Check Gaming power forward Basil "24K Dropoff" Rose was dismissed and disqualified from joining any of the league's teams for breaking the league's ga...03:00, 09/13/2019

I Feel Gross Just Watching NBA 2K20’s Loot Box Trailer NBA 2K20 is supposed to be a game primarily about playing basketball, but you wouldn’t know that from the game’s latest trailer, which makes the game look like something you might see in a casino....01:28, 08/29/2019

'Rocket League' is ditching randomized loot crates Game publishers will soon have to disclose the likelihood of players claiming rare items in loot boxes in their console games, following an agreement between many of them, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo...22:56, 08/07/2019

Far-right's influence fills EU election ballot boxes Compared to national elections, it's always more difficult getting voters to cast a ballot in EU polls. While the upcoming vote is no different, the chance to fend off the far-right put a crack in Eur...02:56, 05/18/2019

Anthem's Latest Update Removes Special Loot Chests Today’s Anthem update has removed special Elysian chests from the game just over a month after they were added. This comes on the heels of several delayed updates, leaving the game’s remaining player...22:14, 05/07/2019

Huggies puts dads on its diaper boxes for first time (CNN) – Huggies has finally caught on.
For the first time ever, the company is featuring dads with babies in ads and packaging.
This is quite a shift for the company that once got criticism for ads t...23:56, 07/18/2019

Iran condemns new US sanctions on petrochemicals TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has condemned new U.S. sanctions targeting its petrochemical industry, saying they prove President Donald Trump is not serious about pursuing negotiations.
Foreign Ministry sp...11:56, 06/08/2019

| SAFA condemns xenophobic attacks SAFA has taken a decision to release Bafana Bafana players back to their clubs after the withdrawal of Madagascar team from the friendly match on Saturday....03:28, 09/06/2019

US House condemns Trump's 'racist comments' The US House has passed a resolution condemning President Trump for racist comments against four congresswomen. Trump's tweets over the past several days have consumed debate in Washington....02:56, 07/17/2019

Netanyahu condemns his minister’s remarks on gays Israel’s prime minister is condemning remarks by his education minister in favor of “conversion therapy,” a controversial psychotherapy technique that seeks to turn gays into heterosexuals...16:42, 07/14/2019

Chinese army condemns Hong Kong protests China's military chief in Hong Kong condemned ongoing protests on the island, stating in his first public comments on the months of unrest that they threaten the life and safety of the people....02:56, 08/02/2019

Vatican condemns gender theory as bid to destroy nature The Vatican condemned gender theory on Monday as part of a "confused concept of freedom", saying in a new document that the idea of gender being determined by personal feeling rather than biology was ...21:56, 06/10/2019

Corbyn condemns May's defiance of Chagos Islands ruling Exclusive: Labour leader accuses PM of disregarding international lawJeremy Corbyn has written to the prime minister condemning her decision to defy a ruling of the UN’s principal court which conclude...20:56, 05/01/2019

House condemns Israel boycott over liberal objections The House passed a resolution Tuesday condemning a global boycott movement against Israel, with the lopsided vote coming over the objections of some progressives who claim the measure violates their F...03:00, 07/24/2019

Human rights commission condemns Brazilian governor The head of the human rights commission of Rio de Janeiro's legislative assembly is blaming state Gov. Wilson Witzel for a surge in police killings, which totaled a record 434 in the first three month...02:28, 05/09/2019

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong Leader, Condemns Violence Protesters had mostly cleared out of the Legislative Council building after three hours of occupation. Then a cordon of riot police used tear gas and charged to scatter the crowd....02:28, 07/02/2019

India Strongly Condemns Terror Attacks In Tunisia India on Friday strongly condemned the terror attacks in Tunisia and said it has always opposed terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, while urging concerted action against the menace....21:28, 06/28/2019

Charity watchdog condemns Oxfam for Haiti behavior England's charity watchdog has condemned Oxfam for having a "culture of poor behavior," in connection with the sexual misconduct scandal involving workers in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake....16:56, 06/11/2019

Chemnitz football club condemns racism among own fans Chemnitz FC has threatened to consider legal action after its own fans chanted anti-Semitic slogans at a Munich away game. The club is in a running conflict with the far-right contingent among its sup...03:56, 08/25/2019

German parliament condemns 'anti-Semitic' BDS movement The German Bundestag has passed a resolution describing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign against Israel as anti-Semitic. Parliamentarians said some BDS slogans recalled Nazi propaganda....20:56, 05/17/2019

UN condemns deadly attack on Burkina Faso church Senior UN officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres have voiced their outrage at a deadly attack on a Catholic church in the north of Burkina Faso on Sunday, during which six people were...01:42, 05/13/2019

Buy Committee: Can You Help Me Find a New Hat? I’ve been wearing a wide assortment of baseball caps for the past few years, and I thought it was time to shake things up a little. And for that, I need your advice, Buy Committee....02:42, 07/27/2019

Buy Committee: Should I Upgrade My Smartphone? While we can easily predict when the latest and greatest smartphones will be released, it’s often difficult to justify buying a new one when our current device still works fine. Buy Committee, Philip ...02:28, 08/03/2019

How to Build an AI Ethics Committee A new guidebook aims to help organizations set up data and artificial-intelligence ethics committees and better deal with the ethical issues associated with the technology....13:00, 08/30/2019

Buy Committee: Should I Buy a Keyboard for My iPad? As iPads get more powerful and apps get more advanced, they seem poised to replace laptops for many of us. And while the latest models are certainly more powerful than a lot of the computers in the wi...03:28, 06/01/2019

Buy Committee: Which Electric Kettle Should I Buy? For the perfect cup of coffee, you primarily need two things: great beans and the right amount of water at the perfect temperature. The latter can be easily achieved with an electric kettle....04:14, 06/15/2019

The Committee to Protect Journalists Is Unionizing Over the past two years, digital media has seen a groundswell of organizing efforts across the industry. Today, the staff of one of the non-profits at the forefront of defending those outlets’ rights—...18:42, 07/17/2019

Buy Committee: Are Philips Hue Lights Worth It? The smart home is a big, big investment, and one of its biggest stars is the Philips Hue. One of our readers, Ibzan, wonders if the Hue system (and in particular, the Hue LightStrip) is worth the ste...02:00, 05/25/2019

USOC changes name to US Olympic & Paralympic Committee CHICAGO (AP) — The U.S. Olympic Committee is changing its name to include the Paralympic movement.
The organization will be known as the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee under a change approved Thu...22:14, 06/20/2019

House committee votes AG Barr in contempt The House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress, escalating the Democrats' extraordinary legal battle with the Trump administration over access t...01:00, 05/09/2019

Robert Mueller to testify before House committee Representative Jerry Nadler told reporters the agreement was for Mueller to testify sometime in MayBarr testifies to Congress – live updatesThe chairman of the US House judiciary committee has said th...18:56, 05/01/2019

Lawmaker removed from committee after shooting squirrel CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire lawmaker who shot a squirrel in his yard and shared a graphic photo of it on Twitter has lost his seat on a legislative committee.
Deerfield Republican Rep. Jim Sp...23:42, 06/28/2019

Swedbank committee proposes new board members Swedbank's
nomination committee proposed two new board members and called
for an extraordinary meeting to be held before June 21, as the
lender tries to recover from a scandal tying accounts at
branch...10:56, 05/13/2019

Senate committee backs Hyten for Pentagon post The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday backed General John Hyten to be the second-highest ranking U.S. military official, a day after he denied sexual assault allegations against him....04:56, 08/01/2019

Hope Hicks to testify before House Judiciary Committee Hope Hicks, a former longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, will testify behind closed doors before the House Judiciary Committee next week, Chairman Jerrold Nadler announced Wednesday.Hicks, w...04:28, 06/13/2019

House Committee sues Treasury for Trump tax returns The House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday sued the Treasury Department to get President Donald Trump’s tax returns, a spokesman for a committee member told CNBC on Tuesday.
The lawsuit was first r...18:14, 07/02/2019

House committee readies contempt vote against Barr The U.S. House Judiciary Committee prepared to move forward on Wednesday with a contempt citation against Attorney General William Barr for defying a congressional subpoena demanding access to the ful...12:42, 05/08/2019

US Homeland Security Committee subpoenas 8chan owner The House Committee on Homeland Security has subpoenaed 8chan owner Jim Watkins to testify before congress after the site was linked to a deadly mass shooting in El Paso. "At least three acts of deadl...17:42, 08/15/2019